my microcosm

The Failure of Nonviolence: revised edition

From the Arab Spring to the plaza occupation movement in Spain, the
student movement in the UK and Occupy in the US, many new social
movements have started peacefully, only to adopt a diversity of tactics
as they grew in strength and collective experiences. The last ten years
have revealed more clearly than ever the role of nonviolence. Propped up
by the media, funded by the government, and managed by NGOs, nonviolent
campaigns around the world have helped oppressive regimes change their
masks, and have helped police to limit the growth of rebellious social
movements. Increasingly losing the debates within the movements
themselves, proponents of nonviolence have increasingly turned to the
mainstream media and to government and institutional funding to drown
out critical voices. The Failure of Nonviolence examines most of
the major social upheavals since the end of the Cold War to establish
what nonviolence can accomplish, and what a diverse, unruly,
non-pacified movement can accomplish. Focusing especially on the Arab
Spring, Occupy, and the recent social upheavals in Europe, this book
discusses how movements for social change can win ground and open the
spaces necessary to plant the seeds of a new world.